Education Ambassadors

Cosmos was transferred to the Wildlife Center from another wildlife rehabilitation facility in October 2024. Although his full history is unknown, he was reportedly found as a young opossum and kept illegally as a pet. As a result, he became highly habituated to humans and cannot be released back to the wild. Additionally, as a result of an improper diet when he was kept as a pet, Cosmos has mild metabolic bone disease (MBD) – this means his bones and joints are weaker than the average opossum's. Cosmos quickly adjusted to his role as an ambassador at the Center and officially joined the team in January 2025. A naming fundraiser was held shortly after; the winning name, Cosmos, is a nod to the night sky and opossums' nocturnal behavior. Additionally, the Cosmos flower is a cousin to the Marigold, a name once carried by beloved opossum ambassador Marigold, thus continuing her legacy of teaching the world.

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Hudson was transferred to the Wildlife Center in 2017 from another wildlife educator. Although Hudson’s full history is unknown, he was hatched in captivity, likely in 2005, and was used a falconry bird for a number of years before “retiring” as an education bird. In the wild, Gyrfalcons live in extreme Arctic and subarctic climates. They are very rare visitors to Virginia; a wild Gyrfalcon admitted to the Wildlife Center in 1984 is recognized as the first recorded appearance for the species in Virginia.

Hudson was named for Hudson Bay, a large body of water in the subarctic region of northern Canada. Gyrfalcons typically breed in the northern region of the Hudson Bay, and winter in the southern portion, where daily high temperatures average below 23 degrees Fahrenheit.

Watch a video about working with Hudson on the Center's YouTube channel.

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This Eastern Hog-nosed Snake was kept as a pet in Richmond, Virginia. In September 2015, when Oscar was approximately one year old, she was given to the Wildlife Center because her caretaker could no longer care for her. Because we don’t know when or where Oscar was taken from the wild, she can never be released. Reptile pets also often lack the necessary skills to survive in the wild, and introducing them to a new area can introduce disease to the local, native population. In December 2015, the Wildlife Center held a naming contest with K-12 students from throughout the U.S. Oscar was named for the impressive acting abilities of the species and the dramatic “death scenes” that they often employ to evade predators — truly Oscar-worthy!

Previously thought to be male, the Wildlife Center had the opportunity to test Oscar's DNA by analyzing one of her sheds in May 2021. Following years of speculation from Center staff, the results definitively confirmed that she's a female!

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Severus was brought to the Wildlife Center in December 2007. He was originally captured in 2004 in the basement of a home, and subsequently passed between several different owners over a period of two and a half years. He was eventually confiscated by the police in Staunton, Virginia and brought to the Wildlife Center. When Severus first arrived at the Wildlife Center he was malnourished and very aggressive, both likely products of his poor living conditions in captivity. Our staff began a rehabilitation regimen to nurse him back to health, but because he had been kept in captivity for such a long time, Severus cannot be released. He is now a healthy and permanent member of the Wildlife Center’s education team.

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